Patriots sign three players

Corey Coleman was cut by Buffalo on Sept. 1 after being acquired from Cleveland in August. [David Richard/AP]▲

The Patriots signed wide receiver Corey Coleman to a one-year deal on Tuesday. The 5-foot-11 Coleman was the 15th overall pick in the 2016 draft by the Cleveland Browns. He's had a tumultuous start to his NFL career, but has also shown talent.

The Pats also signed former Denver Broncos wide receiver Bennie Fowler. The 6-1 Fowler caught a career-high 29 passes for 350 yards and three touchdowns last season. An undrafted free agent in 2015, he had 56 receptions and 698 receiving yards in three seasons with Denver. He also has one career punt return. Fowler was released by Chicago on cut-down day.

The team signed veteran running back Kenjon Barner, who played for the Eagles last season. Barner returned 27 punts for 240 yards for Philadelphia. He was with the Panthers in the preseason.

Coleman caught 33 passes for 413 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games as a rookie with Cleveland. He missed six games that season because of a broken hand. His best game that year was against Baltimore, when he caught five passes for a career-high 104 yards and two touchdowns.

Last year, Coleman caught 23 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns in nine games. Again, a broken hand landed him on injured reserve. His best game in 2017 came against Jacksonville, catching six passes for 80 yards.

Coleman was traded by Cleveland this summer to the Buffalo Bills for a 2020 seventh-round pick. The Bills cut Coleman on cut-down day, eating $3.5 million in dead money. After releasing Riley McCarron and Chad Hansen on Monday, the Patriots entered Tuesday with just three receivers -- Chris Hogan, Phillip Dorsett and Cordarrelle Patterson -- on the roster.

Coleman has had some issues in the NFL. He was depicted on HBO's "Hard Knocks" as a me-first player. In one scene, Coleman complained about practicing with the second-team offense. The Browns promptly traded him to Buffalo. After being released, Bills GM Brandon Beane told theathletic.com that Coleman wasn't able to learn the offense.

Wise move

Deatrich Wise Jr. didn't start in the season opener, but he certainly was a finisher.

The second-year defensive lineman collected two tackles, including one for a loss, 1½ sacks and an additional quarterback hit on Deshaun Watson as he maximized his 23 defensive snaps in the Patriots' 27-20 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday.

All told, Wise was part of a pass rush that produced three sacks and nine additional QB hits while harassing and hurrying Watson, who was 17-for-34 for 176 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

"Like Coach always told us, just keep the pressure on the quarterback and plays will happen," Wise said afterward. "And that's what we did. We may make it look easy, but it's not easy. It takes a lot of hard work, discipline and patience."

The Patriots drafted the 6-5, 275-pound Wise in the fourth round (131st overall) out of Arkansas in 2017. He went on to have a solid rookie season, recording five sacks while playing all 16 regular-season games and adding a pair of sacks in three playoff games.

Wise had three sacks in his first five NFL games before going into a drought. The issue wasn't his ability to pressure the pocket, but rather he'd over-pursue and find himself behind the quarterback.

Wise has since improved by refining his pass-rush techniques and increasing his awareness, which comes with experience.

"He's done a real good job of that," coach Bill Belichick said on Monday in a conference call. "There's a fine line between just going all-out for an elusive player, whether it's a quarterback or any player, really, and then him juking you and you missing in space and then it's even more trouble for everybody else."

Point of emphasis

One reason the Patriots have been so successful at not beating themselves over the last 17 seasons is because they rank among the league leaders in fewest turnovers.

For example, the Patriots were tied for second in fewest interceptions (eight) and fewest lost fumbles (four) and fourth in fewest total fumbles (13) last season.

But ball security was an issue for the Patriots on Sunday.

Running back Rex Burkhead, tight end Rob Gronkowski and the since-released McCarron all fumbled with the Texans recovering two of the loose balls.

That undoubtedly didn't sit well with Belichick.

"It's a priority every week," Belichick said on Tuesday in a conference call. "It hasn't changed and it won't change. It's a priority every week."

That's because other than points scored and allowed no statistic correlates more with winning and losing than turnover differential. The Patriots beat the odds against the Texans as they finished minus-1, their self-inflicted damage mitigated by two takeaways they turned into seven points.

Quarterback Tom Brady was intercepted once, although it came off a tipped pass.

The Patriots are 138-11 (.926) in the regular season since 2001 when finishing with a positive turnover differential. They're 37-37 when it's a negative number.

"Again, ball security is a priority for us every week," Belichick said. "We'll work hard on it and try to eliminate turnovers and try to get them on defense and in the kicking game, but we have to take better care of the ball."

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